SPME analysis of potential attractants for palm weevils

Solid-phase microextraction was applied for the analysis of a mixture of po tential attractants for palm weevils, constituted by seven organic compound s. Various fibers, coated with different sorbent phases were used in this s tudy and the best results were obtained with the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS )/divinylbenzene (DVB) and the Carboxen/PDMS fibers. A waiting time of 5 mi n before sampling was adequate for sample homogenisation and a sampling tim e of 30 min was used to obtain good extraction efficiencies. A complete des orption of the analytes into the injection port of the gas chromatograph wa s achieved with an injection time of 1 min. The detection limit of the meth od ranged from 0.29 to 156 ng/ml for the different components of the mixtur e, with a lower detection limit for the compounds with higher affinity for the fiber coating. This method was used in the analysis of volatiles releas ed from a diffuser filled with the attractant mixture.